Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? No not really!
by Supersairaptor
Summary: Grey Ardell, a childhood friend of bell's returns to his hometown to fulfill a promise the both of them made as children..but when he discovers all of the amazing things bell has accomplished, he feels left in the dust, but is determined to prove himself to his suddenly successful friend..while picking up beautiful and baddass maidens along the way!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The new member

Flashback

Two boys sat on a porch of a house overlooking their city and the prominent dungeon that rose high above the city, a gigantic monolith of wonder and danger, waiting to be conquered.

".Grandpa says being an adventurer is all about beating ugly and vicious monsters in the dungeons and rescuing pretty girls from certain anger" a young bell comments

"I'm sure it's about more than that bell! Think about the adventure, the monster battles, leveling up, acquiring you're own skill! Joining a strong familia! Making everlasting bonds and becoming the greatest adventurer imaginable, that's what I want!" Grey proclaims looking up at the sky the sun setting over the horizon, casting an orange/red glare on the clouds making the sky appear as if it were on fire

"You think we could do something like that someday grey?"

"Sure we could! We could become adventurers together, we'd be the best! Those monsters wouldn't know what hit em! You and me bell!"

"Yeah..you and me!" Bell happily chirps, flashing a goofy grin at his friend

"Though I'll be going away for a while bell..."

"What? Why?" Bell asks in an almost forlornly manner

"I have to go on a voyage with my father back to our home on the verrian islands in a couple of days, we may not be back for a few years" grey tells bell, finding it hard to say to him, bell slumped down, with a look of abandonment in his eyes

"O-oh...ok.." He nearly whispers

Grey sits up and turns to bell, putting both hands on his shoulders

"Bell! Listen!... I promise you I will come back! No matter how long it takes! I will return! Just wait for me! We'll be adventurers sooner than you think! And we'll battle fierce beasts and meet pretty girls in no time at all! I just want you to promise that you'll get strong! Strong enough to stand up for yourself! And for those you love! And know that I'll be doing the exact same! Can you do that for me?"

Grey holds out his hand, which bell takes and looks grey directly in his copper brown eyes as grey looks back into bells ruby red ones

"Then it's settled bell! When I come back, well conquer the dungeons! Together!"

If unmistakable or not, small blue and white sparkles were seen floating off the two best friends' hands as they made they're solemn vow, but they both knew to believe in each other and trust each other like brothers...and one day soon, there dream may come true...

Present Day

Grey had finally made it, after a long trek across the sea he had made it to the guildhall to start him on his path to becoming an adventurer.

"Alright Kae, we made it back! Next step is registration, cmon!" Grey exclaims proudly pulling along his ground dragon companion who let out a brief snort of compliance

Upon entering there were any number of barbarians, dwarves, elves, cat people, mages, swordsman, Knights, atlases swordsman assassins and supporters that littered the large building flocking back and forth from the registration and payment booths.

Grey headed for the registration desk and stood in front of a pretty half elf brunette scribbling away at a documented manual.

"Hello young man! My name Eina Tulle, dungeon mission searcher and familia coordinator,how may I be of assistance?" She politely asks

"H-hi miss Eina, my name's Grey Ardell, I'm wanting to join a familia" Grey stutters

"Grey Ardell..." she scribbles in her account manual" are you new here?"

"Yes ma'am"

"Oh! Well welcome aboard! And I suppose you're friend here is your familiar?" She says gesturing to the feathered reptile

"Yes Miss, his name is Kae"

"Wow! a saurian dragon huh? Quite rare to see one, let alone tamed, and where are you arriving from?"

"The Verrian Islands"

"Hmm the Dragon's Cape, ok , last thing, what is your purpose for being here?"

"I want to be an adventurer!" grey proclaims proudly and confidently, Eina smiles empathetically and giggles a little bit

"Another aspiring soul wanting to make his mark, hmm...you remind me so much of him"

"Him? miss?"

"A boy just like you; Bell Cranel is his name" at the very mention of that name he jolts to attention

"You know Bell Cranel?!"

"Yes, I am his coordinator as well and always give him useful advice when the time calls for it or when he's just being stubborn or completely naive, why? do you know him as well?"

"Know him?!, he and I were best friends when we were kids! and I promised him when came back from my father's voyage, we would become adventurers together!"

"Well I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again, so I trust you will be wanting to join the Hestia familia?"

"The Hestia familia?"

"Yes, it's the one Bell chose to align with"

"Then that's the one I'll go to as well!"

"Are you sure mister Ardell? The adventurer's life isn't for the faint of heart or the weak of constitution, they must have the most serious mind and dedication to their craft and once you enter that dungeon there's no turning back"

Grey pondered it for a second and turned to Kae who gave him a grunt which meant' go for it!' He turned back to Eina with a stern and determined look on his face

"That's just a risk I'll have to take" he proclaims once again

"Very well, your all set! The Hestia familia is located near the edge of the village in an abandoned white chapel, good luck Grey and come find me if ever you need help" Eina shouts to the departing boy

"Thanks Miss Eina! I owe ya!"

Grey walked through the large village bazaar constantly scanning for this so called white chapel, walked walked for a solid thirty minutes until his feet started to hurt and so plopped down on a bench.

"Ugh! Whoo! I never knew this place was this big! I'll never find that chapel!" Grey exclaims dramatically, Kae gives out an annoyed snort and rolled his eyes, then Grey spots a cute petite girl with brown puffy hair, two small cat ears, a white and red to and a maroon miniskirt with shin length black boots and an enormous green bag on her back, which looked almost impossible or improbable for her to carry, headed in the same direction

"H-hey! Excuse me miss chianthrope!"

The little girl turns to face him

"Are you referring to me?" The little girl pipes up

"Yes! I'm really sorry to disturb you but I'm searching for a white chapel, do you have

any idea where it is?"

"Oh the chapel? I'm only way there now actually! Why are you looking for it?"

"I'm wanting to join the Hestia familia!"

Her eyes widened for a second, then narrowed in suspicion

"Well if your that insistent, come on I'll show you the way!"

"Oh thank you so much!"

While they were walking the girl constantly watched grey, with a steely, prying looked in her Amber eyes, she felt he couldn't be trusted for some reason, maybe he wanted to take advantage of the situation, trying to sucker up to a famila to sponge everything he could from them, she was unsure but she wasn't gonna take her eyes off him for a second.

"Here we are! I'm back!" The girl announces

"Hey little bit! What took you?!" A red haired man looking to be in his early twenties exclaims

"For your information welf, going solo isn't as easy as it sounds! And where the hell do you get off with that response?! You try doing this by yourself!"

"Hey! hey! Easy! I was just kidding!" He then looks at grey and asks

"Who's the kid?"

"He claims he wants to become a member of this familia"

"Oh great! We need another member for our party!" He walks up to grey to shake his hand"nice meetin ya kid! What's your name?"

"G-grey ardell sir"

"Grey huh? Good name! And there's no need for the formal crap! I'm welf crozo, but you can call me welf, who's your friend here?"

"Oh this is kae! He's been with me ever since I was little"

The little girl decides to try and touch kae, but he whips around and snarls at her, in an attempted way of saying'back off'

"Hey easy kae! She didn't mean anything by it!" The dragon looks at him then lets out a hesitant disregarding snort, allowing the little girl to touch him, which she very much enjoyed stroking his smooth prominent reddish/orange scales

"By the way.. I never caught your name miss" grey addresses the girl

"Oh! Liliruca arde"

"Well miss arde..."

"Liliruca is fine"

"Liliruca..I need to speak to the goddess Hestia I believe right?"

"Yes, and she must give you her blessing, but just so you know, this life ain't for the faint of heart, or the string of will, many would be adventurers have lost their lives doing exactly why you want to do, your life is never guaranteed and you never know what day will be your last, the dungeons are an unforgiving place, are you sure this is why you want?"

This is the exact same thing Eina said to him, so he felt this was really something he needed to take into consideration, but it his best friend was willing to take that risk, then he was as well

"Yes, it is, I promised my best friend that I would! And I never go back in my word! We promised to traverse the dungeon together and I intend not to let him down!"

Lili and welf were both shocked by the boy's resolve and confident spirit, so much so they gave him understanding smiles

"Well you certainly got the guts to stand up for it kid, but we'll see if you've got the balls to back up your big talk!"

"Indeed! But who is this grind you are referring to!"

"I believe he is in you're familia, his name is bell cranel!"

"WHAT?!" They both shout, completely floored

"Master bell is your friend?!" Lili exclaims

"Yeah I've known him since childhood"

"Since childhood?!" They both exclaim once more

"Yeah, why is he really popular around here or something?"

"Popular?! He's the town hero! He defeated a both a Minotaur and aGoliath singlehandedly all in his first month as a level 2 adventurer! And did so besting even the might of the loli familia's party!"

"O-oh...w-wow, that's great!"

Grey said halfheartedly, he couldn't believe it, bell had already surpassed him in so many ways, he felt worthless, like he had lost his one and only friend to the popularity that came with being an adventurer, like he couldn't even dare call bell his friend, like he wasn't worth of him anymore

"Heh..I recognize that look! Don't worry kid, bell's to humble and good natured to gloat, he is truly dedicated to his familia and his friends, if you really are his best friend I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you!"welf reassured him

"M-maybe..." Grey mumbles"By the way...if this is her familia, then where is goddess Hestia?"

"Right here..." A tiny voice chimes in from behind grey, and he turns to see a petite girl with coal black shiny hair, tied back into two long pigtails, her face, cute and delicate with two sapphire blue eyes, her white dress cut off at the shoulders and ended at her thighs, she also wore white gloves and a blue each crossing over her arms and accentuating her rather large bust for a girl her size

"G-goddess!" Grey stutters disbelievingly

"Yes? What is it you're here for?" Hestia inquires

"Oh great goddess Hestia, I-I know this is gong to sound presumptuous, but I would like to-"

"I know! You want to join my familia! But my question is..." she stands on her tippy toes and looks him dead in the eye boring her prying sapphire orbs into his skull

"What do you want with my precious bell?"

"...excuse me?"

"You heard me! What do you want with my bell?!"

He and I made a vow with each other when we were kids, we told each other that would would become adventurers together and conquer the dungeons! But I heard that bell has already become so strong and I was losing hope that i'd ever see him again, but I can't give up! I made him a promise and I'm not going back on it!" Grey proclaims

"Mm...I see, you're dedication to my bell seems well rooted, but what makes you think you have what it takes? It takes more than a petty sense of pride and spirit to traverse this unforgiving dungeons! How do you plan to prove yourself useful? How do you propose you prove yourself the best?"

Grey felt trumped, like his childhood ambition was torn to shreds by a few cruel but true words, but then he remembered, he had never given up, and that's what had pushed him as far as he had come in his life, it was pure determination and his best friend that brought him back to the city to challenge the dungeon! And he wasn't gonna let this hold him back!

"By getting stronger! Plain and simple! There's no other way! And I'll do everything in my power to prove myself to you goddess! I pledge to serve you and your familia to the best of my ability, I Grey Ardell solemnly swear to the beautiful goddess Hestia!" Grey proclaims heroically, bowing in front of Hestia in a sigh of undying respect and loyalty, Hestia was taken aback by his firm resolve, nothing was gonna stop this kid! Even Lili and Welf were shocked by Grey's dedication

Hestia's face was unreadable for a second, but then a faint smile crept across her lips

"Very well, Grey Ardell..in the name of the divine power within me, I give you my blessing, but to get too excited, you better promise to take care of your familia! They are everything you have, and it's your job to protect and ain't them just as much them doing the same! Are we clear?"

"Yes goddess!" Grey happily proclaims once more, Hestia lays a hand on his silvery/grey hair and lets out s brief giggle

"You may rise" with that he stands and beams a Cheshire grin at them

"What must I do first?" Grey asks, expecting an arduous task

"Well, you first task is to enter the dungeon with you new party, but you'll have to wait till bell returns-" just then the door squeaks open and a boy with snowy white hair, red eyes and a tan jacket with baggy dark greyish black pants walks in with a hand full of potato croquettes, no doubt about it...it was Bell

"I'm back!" He announces

"~BELL~" Hestia joyously exclaims pouncing onto him, wrapping her legs around his torso, nuzzling his face furiously

"Haha! I'm happy to see you too goddess! I brought you all croquettes!"

"~Oh Bell!~ you're such a charmer!" Hestia coos as she lets go and takes the treats, giving bell a quick peck on the cheek, Bell then looks up to see Grey stand as stiff as a statue with wide stunned eyes

"G-grey?" Bell stutters

"Bell?"

If it were destiny, the best friends rushed each other and embraced each other as if it were a century since they saw each other.

Oh my gods Grey! I thought you'd never come back dude!" Bell exclaimed ecstatically almost tearing up at Grey's return

"I made you a promise Bell! And I wasn't going to take it lightly! But I guess it doesn't matter now..I've heard about everything you've done, your already better than me so I guess there's no point in trying to become an adventurer now, but I'm still gonna try to reach you!"

Bell felt a little guilty for leaving his friend behind, metaphorically speaking, but it was never his intention to do so, he just wanted to be close to Aiz.

"Grey, what could possibly make you think I would leave you behind on purpose? Our vow has kept me going, but so has my ambition to reach a certain girl...how could I forget about my best friend and our childhood ambition? No one will replace you grey..no amount of popularity or no skill level could light a fire in me like our friendship!"

Bells words touched Grey...even though he was much stronger than he was as a kid, at heart he was still the same pure hearted, if a little naïve, Bell Cranel

"You haven't changed a bit Bell! I'm proud of you!" Grey raised his hand for they're signature shake and bell responded by initiating it

"Well bell, mister Ardell here just joined the familia! And he seems quite anxious to prove himself to us! What say you guys take him to the dungeon for a little initiatory exploration?" Hestia states biting into one of the croquettes, giving Grey a bemused smile and a challenging, good natured glare

"Well you wanted your chance Grey! Whadduya say? Ready to take on your first monster horde?!" Bell inquires, with gusto

Grey looks upon all of the smiling faces of his new familia then gives them a determined look with his Cheshire grin

"Hell yeah! Let's go!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The new argonaut

"Well, since the gonna be joining us grey, why don't we get you some new armor?" Bell offers

"Well I don't have that much Bell!" Grey responds

"It's on the house, courtesy of your best friend!"

"Bell I can't ask you to do that!"

"Your not asking me! I want to! And your gonna need it! So I'm taking you to the

hephaestus familia shop!"

"W-what?! b-but they are the most skilled blacksmiths in existence! Do you have any idea how expensive they're items are?!"

"Yeah, but I have plenty of valis on hand, now quit worrying so much! We're already here!"

Bell says pointing out the beautiful shop, then he leads a hesitant Grey inside.

The shop was incredible to say the least, guilded Mage staffs, beautifully crafted swords and armor sad far as the eye could see

"Whoa! This place is awesome!"

"Yeah it is! But this isn't where we'll be shopping, cmon I'll take you to where I got my first armor set!"

Grey then follows Bell to a dark room with assortments of rusted armor as well as newly shipped armor, swords and other weapons supposedly from new craftsmen trying to eek out a living in this complicated market

"Here we are! Now I know it ain't much, but the armor I got here from our blacksmith welf is actually top quality! But let's see if we can't find you something to start out with!" Bell then starts combing the little shop for some light armor similar to his, while Grey explores,he stops when a glint catches his eye and decides to investigate, he bends shown to find a silvery grey helmet with two bull horns, a silver and copper fused chest plate with an emblem of a chimera on it, two sturdy metal knuckled gauntlets and two piece shin guards

"Whoa, in such good condition and awesome looking, this is it! B-bell! Bell!come over here!"

"Yeah what's up Grey?"

"Check it out!" Grey giddly presents him with the armor

"Whoa, gilded armor! What luck! And it's in awesome condition! I say go for it dude!"

"Sweet I got my armor!" Grey cheered holding up his prize

"Now all you need is a weapon! What are you partial to?"

"Short swords!"

"Alright!" Bell steps up to a wall filled with different sword designs, single, double-edged, katana, rapiers, cutlasses, longswords, broadswords, eipochs, then he saw it, a fixed molded chrome hilt with claw like counterbalances and a blue gem imbedded in it, the tempered steel double edged blade extended about a 50cm and had runes etched in by a god in the middle, making the blade glimmer and flash bright blue, Bell picked it up and handed it to Grey

"How's this one?" Bell asks

"Whoa!" Grey shudders and takes the blade from bell, he then swings it about getting a feel for it and laughed triumphantly

"It's perfect bell! Thank you dude!

"No problem! Now let's get this armor and go back to the chapels to get Lili, welf and your dragon!"

"You got it!"

Back at the chapel

"Hey guys we're back!" Bell greets

"Hello master bell! How did the shopping trip turn out?" Lili asks

"See for yourself! Alright grey!" Bell confirms and the boy steps inside with his new armor and sword on his holster, an item pouch hung from his hip and his helmet was in his hand

"Well guys! What do you think?"

"Heh! Well I'll be damned! He looks ready for war!" Welf compliments

"Indeed! You truly look like an adventurer now!" Lili adds

Even Kae let out a chitter of approval as he looked his master up and down.

"So, you guys ready to go?"

Bell asks

"Let's depart!" Lili confirms

"Alright you all be careful and make sure you bring our newest member back in one piece!" Hestia bids and commands them all good natured

"We promise goddess" Bell reassures, closing the door

Hestia lets out a sigh"good luck my new child"

At the guild

"Well look who's back! And with an impressive armor set!" Eina compliments

"Thanks miss Eina!" Grey responds

"So I'm guessing your here for your first dungeon quest of your career?"

"You know it!"

Alright where will you like to go inside?"

"Put us in the third level dungeon miss Eina!" Bell interjects

"Oh! ok then third level it is! The entrance is across town Grey, Bell will lead you there. Good luck!" She bids to the small party exiting

A few minutes later they enter a dark cave lot with torches, with groups of adventurers and warrior already entering the dungeons.

"Wow! There are so many adventurers here" grey admits, humbly

"well yeah! But most of them are pumped up mongrels and stuck up snobs who aim for the lower levels" Welf says

"Even though most of them wuss out or die before they get down there..." Lili mutters

That last statement grey pushed to the back of his mind, and was shoved out of his head by Kae pushing him along as it was time for them to enter as well, when they got in, the cave light refracted blue with hints of violet and a stale uneasy air hung about.

"Alright grey! Your first expedition! First thing to know! Monsters are everywhere and always lurking behind walls or underground, so always remain vigilant! Your party is here to assist and protect you if need be but you have to be willing to do the same! With that said just stick close and you'll know what to do and when to do it-" just then the ground underfoot came alive and small imp like creature as marked and growled at the party slowly advancing on them

"Wow! Already! Well this should be good fighting experience for ya grey!" Bell proclaims rushing the group of imps and with one long slash of his black knife turns all of the imps into nothing but black dust

"Whoa, just one slice!" Grey awes

"Hey greenhorn! Heads up behind ya!"Welf warns, and grey turns around to see three imps lunging at him, acting on instinct he unsheathed his blade and slices two in half with ease and kicks the third in the gut making it hit the ground with Grey force before he drove his blade into its chest.

"Whoa, you got some moves kid!" Welf acknowledged

"Heh thanks! Though it was mainly

instinct!"

"Well instinct or not! Doesn't look like you need to be taught the ins and outs of fighting! But I expected no less of you Grey, you're pretty strong and skilled! I never doubted you were!"

"Thanks Bell-" a loud growl erupts from the dark proceeding tunnel ahead and the sound of stomping is heard none too far away

"Wha?! Already?!" Grey stutters

"It's like master bell said, monsters are everywhere!"

Six large green ogre like creatures stood before them, red beady eyes trained on them alone, then with a swift motion they charged them all

"Move!" Bell commanded, and with that they scattered, bell took on two by himself, easily out maneuvering them and stabbing them directly In they're vital regions between their eyes, vaporizing them. Welf and Lili worked as a team agains two of them as well, one tried to make a grab for Welf, but he sliced off his hand and uttered a magic incantation

"Will o' wisp!" He proclaimed and a rush of wind blew the beast over, the he kept on top of it and jabbed it in its forehead

"Look out Welf!" Lili shouted as another ogre tried swinging its rock club at him, but she fired her repeater crossbow and successfully blindsided the creature iving Welf the opportunity to slice off one of its legs, knocking it over so he could deliver the coupe de gras

"Alright! 4 down! 2 to go!" Welf exclaimed happily

"Where's grey?" Bell asked

"Over there!" Lili exclaimed pointing to he boy and the dragon both struggling to hold off the two ogres assaulting them

"Oh crap!" Bell said" Hang on Grey! We're coming!"

Grey was able to slice at the tendon of one of them deep enough to knock it over, and Kae breathed a fireball and blew a hole through the first one's head.

"Nice job boy!" Grey said, but the other ogre was silent and swatting him away with its arm making grey drop his blade skids as cross the ground and swatted Kae away as well, making him hit a wall

"GREY!" Bell cried out, then in a fit of rage, Bell held out his hand and summoned his argonaut magic

"FIREBOLT!" He shouted and struck the ogre with a ball of white flame, disorienting it but not killing it, then grey did something shocking

"FULLCASTER BURST!" He shouted blasting an enormous bolt of lightning blew off the ogre's head making it explode into dust and drop an item

"Wh-what the hell?! Did He just use magic?!" Welf stutters completely stunned

"He's not even a level one adventurer yet! How?!" Lili asked in a similar way

Bell ran to Grey and helped him up"You have a skill Grey?! And you didn't tell me?!"

"I forgot about it till now, I possess the fullcaster skill, it allows me to manipulate electricity as well as counter attacks from monsters! Like your argonaut skill allows you attacks to become more powerful the more you use them"

"So much for you being a greenhorn huh?"

"Yeah no kidding!"

"Well you ready to head back to the guild?" Bell inquires

"Yeah I am! That was exhausting!"

"Alright! Hey Lili can you grab all of the magic stones?"

"Already done master bell! Except or that strange item drop from one of those ogres!" Lili holds out the item and it's one of they're claws, except it was dark brown with a glowing orange core

"Why kind of claw is that?" Welf asks

"I'm not sure"Lili says" but I'm pretty sure the gnome trade shop owner will know!"

"Alright we'll turn in the magic stones for valis and get our status updates from Eina, then we'll find out what it is! Nice job by the way Grey! You've really proved you got potential, a lot of it too! and the grey in knew always did!" Bell complimented

"Yeah! You certainly ain't no greenhorn kid!" Welf complimented once more slapping grey on his back

"Yes mister Ardell! I seem to have misjudged you! You are full of surprises" Lili compliments

"Thanks guys, to be honest I surprised myself even! But I'm just glad I got toniest myself today! And believe me I'll be itching for more tomorrow! But for now let's all head back! W-wait! Kae!" Grey realized, then looked around and found the dragon lying in his side, he ran to him an madshook him awake the feathers beast then rolls into a standing position, shaking off the pain

"Oh you scared me buddy! But just as durable as ever!" Kae let out a happy groan and nuzzled his master, glad he was alright

"C'mon Grey! We're headed back!" Bell shouts

"Coming" he acknowledged and jogs to catch up to them with Kae following close behind, his first day back in the village, and already he had found his best friend , entered the fabled dungeon and used his magic for the first time against a vicious monster, so far, this turned out to be the best thing that's happened to him and at this rate, he'd reach bell sooner the he thought...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: golden opportunities and fated encounters

"What?! He already has a skill?!" Eina shouts incredulously slamming her arms on the table as she stands and leans in toward the two boys

"Yeah! Apparently he said he didn't even remember he did until recently!" Bell explains

"B-But that's impossible!, adventurers don't gain skills at least until they reach level 2! But that means that grey automatically has become a level 2 adventurer by default!"

"Really?!" Bell exclaims

"Yes! Although it took you a month you excelled faster than aiz and became a level two, but grey previously learned his skill and honed it by how you described, so he automatically can level up, though you may want to ask your goddess about his status update!"

"Right!"

"Oh and speaking of miss wallenstein, she told me she would like to speak to you again bell, she told me to tell you to meet her here later on today at sunset"

"Wh-whoa, s-she wants to speak to me?!" Bell stutters dreamily, his heart aflutter that the swords woman wanted to speak to him again

"Who's this Aiz person Bell?" Grey asks, which warrants looks of disbelief from both of them"what?"

"You don't know who Aiz Wallenstein is?! The "sword princess"? "

"No...who is she?"

"She is the most skilled and powerful woman in our village that wields a blade! The has bedeviled even some of the strongest adventurers in sparring matches and has made it down to the 50th floors of the dungeons where the most dangerous of all monsters reside, such as the massive Goliath bell defeated 1 month ago, the monsters living there are capable of destroying entire villages, fortresses and even cities! Should give you a scale to measure her power!"

"Wow...i'd like to meet her!" Grey says

"Well, maybe I can bring you back later with me!" Bell offers

"That'd be awesome!"

"But getting back to the matter at hand, Grey, while in proud of you for exceeding your perceived potential, I still can't help but worry about your progress, because of your victory in the dungeon you may feel like heading down to the mid levels, well I'm telling you for now to stay your course, take things slow and don't bite off any more than you can chew ok?" Eina states with concern as well as experience from dealing with Bell in that regard

"I understand miss Eina..." Grey responds

"well, as long as you do, now then turn in your magic stones for valis and I'll see you both back here in 2 hours! and don't be late, miss Wallenstein may be patient, but I wouldn't force your hand by taking you're time!"

"Thank you miss Eina!" Bell remarks her, which gets a giggle from the half elf woman and a tittering finger wave goodbye

Grey hands in three large magic stones and the door closes but opens back up with a full bag of gold coins

"15,000 valis..have a nice day" the monotonous make voice chimes in

"W-wow 15,000?! I've never gotten this much before!"

"Well you earned it grey! You did great!"

"Heh..thanks though to be honest Bell you were a good teacher, you deserve half!"

"Oh no I couldn't take that Grey! It's yours!"

"I insist! You Lili and Welf all deserve a share!" Grey says, giving half the bag to Bell

"Grey..."

"Don't think too much into it dude, I trust you bell you're my best friend, I know you'd never betray me!"

"W-well I uh..a-are you sure grey?"

"Positive! Now stop worrying so much and let's go get this weird object looked at!"

"Yeah..."

Bell and grey left the guildhall after telling Lili and Welf to head back to the chapel and they would meet up later,and headed deep into the village to a small trade shop that a gnome worked in that Lili used to go to, when she worked for the soma familia and she said the shop owner had always given her sound and useful advice and never a single bum steer.

"Hello? Is the shop keeper in?" Bell calls out as the boys enter the dark, lantern lit store, full of potions, spell casting books, Mage staffs, swords, daggers, maces, axes, animal skulls and rare items

"Come on in gents" a diminutive voice calls out from further in, the boys walk toward the sound of the voice to hey reach the front desk, but no one was there

"H-hello?" Bell calls out once more

"Down here sonny!" The two boys look down to find an equally diminutive gnome beaming an endearing smile up to them

"O-oh im sorry sir! I didn't see you!"

"No worries son I get it all the time...now what can I help you boys with? magic spells? casting books? maybe a versatile weapon or two?"

"A-actually sir..we were wondering if you could tell us what this is..." Grey pipes up, handing the gnome the claw

"Ahhhh..." He rasps"very, very rare! Haven't seen one of these in a long while! Where'd you find it son?"

"In the dungeon on the third floor"Bell tells him

"The third?! An item like this would only be dropped in the middle floors!"

"What do you mean? What is it anyway?" Grey asks

"What we have here is an armament claw!"

"Arma-what claw?" Bell mispronounces

"Am armament claw is an extremely rare drop that can be molded into armor sets or used to upgrade weapons! With incredible results too! Weapons become almost god tier in quality! But of course this drop maybe rare but not that rare...still finding armament claws is rare and there are only 4 types of armament drops; armament claws, armament horns, armament jewel eyes and armament hearthstones...and judging by the color Ian's shape of this one, I'd say it increases the sharpness and affinity of your weapon or armor! You got quite lucky finding it son!"

"That sounds amazing...I just gotta get it grafted to my sword!" Grey proclaims

"Well I'm sure Welf can help you with that! Not only is he a member of our party but a skilled blacksmith as well! He'd be more than happy to help!" Bell responds

"Well that solves that! Thank you mister gnome! We'll come back very soon!"

"Of course boys! If ever you need help, come to me! You have an excellent day" the gnome bids as the two boys exit

"Welp...what should we do before we have to go back to the guild?" Bell asks, just then Grey's stomach rumbles loudly

"Heh! I'm kinda hungry.." He admits, holding his growling gut

"Well come on, there's a croquette stand nearby!"

Then they head off...

About an hour later they head back to the guild, bell obviously nervous about seeing Aiz again, not sure what she'd want to see him for, but literally shaking with anticipation.

"You okay Bell? You seem pretty jittery" grey observes

"I-it's just, I'm going to see miss Aiz again,and I can't contain my excitement, I don't know why she wants to see me though but that's why I'm excited about!"

"Who is she anyway? Do you two have a history?"

"Well...kinda..she saved me from a Minotaur when I was just a level 1! And I vowed on that day that I wanted to reach her no matter how hard it was! Then as I started to progress, she took an interest in me and one day I asked if she could teach me how to fight and she gladly obliged, I may have gotten my rear handed to me, but it was the most fun I've had with someone, and she seemed to enjoy herself as well,and when we were in the save zone of the dungeon she and I rested and talks under the light of the crystal cave on floor 18 of the dungeon"

"Wow you two do have a history! And sounds like she had a little crush on you as well!" Bell's face lit up deep red

"W-what?! Her?! A crush on me?!"

"Well yeah, by the way you described your time with her and your ambition to be on her level, not to mention her interest in you, safe to assume she likes you, or regards you in a great capacity to see you as an equal or useful ally"

That phrase sliced through bell like a knife through butter, throwing any notion of a connection right out the window "u-useful ally huh?"

"Heheh! Relax dude I'm just joking! Let's just get inside and find your little girlfriend!" Grey muses

"S-she's not my-" before Bell can finish, Grey shoves him inside and into a leaving Eina

"Oh, Bell! Grey! Great! you two are back! Miss Wallenstein! Bell has arrived!"

She calls the beautiful blonde with steely, uninterested and deadpan golden yellow eyes standing at the counter, her dress was white with blue stripes going down each side of her torso, the dress ended at her thighs which gave way to Royal blue legging boots with a silver imprint on them

"Hello again mister Cranel it is a pleasure to see you once more..." She pulls a faint smile on her face

"H-h-hi...m-miss A-Aiz, it's good to s-see you too!" Bell stutters, trying desperately to keep his composure

'Wow what a knockout!' Grey thinks to himself

Aiz looks over to grey with a surprised

"Who is your companion mister Cranel?"

"O-oh this is Grey! My best childhood friend, Grey this is miss Aiz Wallenstein the sword princess"

"Charmed ma'am!" Grey hold out his hand, which Aiz takes up firmly

"Likewise! So you are mister Cranel's friend?...you're name sound very familiar...you wouldn't happen to be the new level 2 adventurer Grey Ardell would you?"

"Y-yeah that's me!"

"Interesting...you have achieved this feat faster than him..quite impressive!"

"Heh! It's no big!"

"Well, now that we have pleasantries out of the way, would you boys mind joining my party members and I at our table behind me for a brief chat?"

"O-of course we would!"Bell happily accepts

"Yeah old Bell here has been desperate to talk to you once more! Haven't you bell?" Grey snidely inquires

"I-i no I-just..."

"Oh is that so?" Aiz inquires..that faint smile slowly etching its way onto her lips"Well so have I"

Bell gasps, but mutters a response "o-oh, that's great..."

"C'mon Romeo!" Grey pulls Bell along as he follows Aiz to a round wooden table with two medium sized couch like chairs set around it, on one was a silvery haired guy with wolf ears, a gray jacket and pants, on the other two brown skinned Amazon women who looked about his age sat erect and gracefully, one looked younger and wore a white top with shoulder length cut black hair and semi long bangs with golden rings around them, yellowish/green eyes and thin golden rings around her neck. Her arms had two longer braces around them and her skirt was yellow with a dark is dull yellow and pale yellow Aztec designed sash around it and a long green strip on the end, trailing around the whole skirt, the other had long swept back black hair with braided bangs, two silver rings on her neck and the same yellowish/green eyes, her top was a red laced bra which showed off her developed chests elf together by a silver pendant, her arms had silver wrist guards as well, and she woe a tied on yellow skirt similar to the other one's, but with a red bottom with a blue jewel in the middle and red leggings which ended at her toes.

"Everyone, our guests have arrived" Aiz announces

"Oh great it's the tomato runt again!" The world guy scoffs

The white topped girl gasps" It's the argonaut!"

"It's good to see you again" the red topped girl croons softly

"Who's the other dopey looking runt?" The wolf guy sneers getting up and steeping toward grey looking him up and down

"Didn't know we'd be babysitting two weaklings"

"That's enough bete..." Aiz warns

"No I've had enough Aiz! It's bad enough you like that snowy white haired poser! Now you've invited the silver mop top here?!" Bete snarls

"I said that's enough bete.." Aiz calmly yet dangerously

"You got a problem with me wolf breath?" Grey retorts, then Bete slowly turns around

"What did you just say to me small fry?!..." She growls

"I SAID..do you have a problem with me wolf breath?! What's you're deal?" Bete growls and butts heads with grey

"Watch you're tone weakling! Who the hell do you thing you are to talk to a level 5 like that! I'll snap you like a twig!"

"Please! I'd like to see you try! And I could give a rats ass who you are! You insult Bell, you insult me, and I'm not as complacent or just as good natured as him...so..do you want this problem? Or would you like me to teach you're pompous ass a lesson?" Grey pushes back, his last words coming out and slicing like an icy double edged sword, Bete was slightly unnerved by the kid's resolve and unknown yet terrifying glare, showing he meant every single one of his words and he wouldn't back down

"Tch! Your sorry ass ain't worth my time.." Bete concedes, grumbling under his breath as he sits down, everyone was shocked, Bete never conceded that easily! That kid must have really shook him up, still regardless, everyone was surprised, but felt Bete still deserved to be knocked down a few pegs, his overconfident, selfish, self centered and egotistical personality really got on they're nerves sometimes

"Well, now that that is out of the way, Grey, these are some of my party mates, Tione and Tiona Hiryute the Amazon twins, and Bete Loga the werewolf, everyone this man's name is Grey Ardell, the new level 2 adventurer.." They're attention soon snapped to Grey

"That runt's the new level 2?! Why are all the wannabes getting passes nowadays?!" Bete complains

Tione and Tiona get up and inspect the boy.

"Well, he's cuter than the argonaut" Tiona says

"Indeed and that silvery grey hair adds to his charm, he looks strong even!" Tione adds

"Uhhh...heh, you girls are quite flattering and charming! It's a pleasure to meet all of you, well almost all of you..." He regards Bete, who gives him a glare

Tiona giggles and Tiona smiles warmly

"You're funny!" Tiona chirps

"Heh thanks..."

"Indeed, well mister Ardell" Tione holds out her hand"it's very nice to make your acquaintance as well"

Grey takes her soft hand in his and shakes it"T-the pleasure is all mine miss Tione" Tione lets out a brief but hearty little giggle, he was absolutely stunned by these two, they were the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen! And he hadn't had much luck in the realm of dating to say as much, but his point still held ground

"Quite the gentleman aren't you?"

"Well I try..."

Tiona grabs his other hand and used both of hers to shake his arm up and down

"Hey don't leave me out!"

"Well, seems they've found a new friend" Aiz concluded

"Yeah...Grey is more of a lady's man than he gives himself credit for.." Bell adds

"Now then, the reason I wanted to speaks to you mister Cranel is because the Loki familia party is headed into the dungeon mid floors for training purposes, and I wanted to invite you along, I would like to observe your progress for myself"

"Y-you want me to join you?"

"If you are willing.."

"O-of course! By all means!" Bell proclaims excitedly

Aiz's faint grin returns and she says

"Very well..."

Grey felt this may very well be his only chance to prove his worth to Bell, himself, and now miss Wallenstein and the Amazons. He wanted to show them all how powerful he truly was and give everything he had to be accepted and he want going to slow them down or disappoint Bell...this was his only chance..and he wouldn't let it slip away

"M-miss Wallenstein!" Grey blurts out

"Yes mister Ardell?" She responds

Grey fumbled over his words but managed to formulate his request.

"P-please allow me to join you all on your quest into the dungeon! I would like the opportunity to test my strength! I want to become stronger! And I will do whatever it takes to reach Bell!...please..grant me this request I promise I won't slow any of you down and I will do my best to pull my own weight and push on with determination!"

"Grey!" Bell exclaims but Aiz halts him, she was curious about the new adventurer said to have been placed at rank 2 by default because of a hidden power he knew very little about

"Are you sure you want to endure this arduous feat?...I'm sure bell and many others have told you already..the dungeon has no mercy on rookies and beginners, especially not the middle floors, they'll chew to up and spit you out,both figuratively and literally, do you still feel ambition albeit the costs and drawbacks?" Aiz warns

"Yes" Grey responds without a shadow of a doubt

Aiz was stumped briefly, she didn't expect him to be so cavalier about potentially throwing his life away, but his will was something to be admired and given credit to.

"Well if it is what you wish mister Ardell, I will accept your request..." Aiz concludes flashing a slightly larger smile this time as a sign of endearment

Grey's copper brown orbs widened and glistened with delight at the news.

"We shall meet here tomorrow morning at dawn..Mister Cranel, mister Ardell, get as much rest as you need and prepare as much as you need to as well, we have a long journey ahead of us, goodnight to you" with that Aiz and the others head out

"Grey that was awesome, our dream is finally coming true! We're going into the dungeon together just like we promised each other!"

"Yeah I know! I never doubt we wouldn't! But it was your connection to Aiz that got us here Bell! You deserve all the credit!"

"No I don't, I-I didn't do anything!"

"Oh boy learn to take a compliment will

Ya?!"

"Sorry..."

"Well hey it doesn't matter, lets just go home and get some rest, plus get this on my sword!"

"Yeah let's.."

The two then exit the slowly emptying guildhall and walk home with a beautiful fiery sunset to light they're peaceful walk home.

"Hey Bell check it! Remember when we always used to go to your grandpa's house and watched the sunsets before bed?"

"Yeah, how could I forget? You used to prattle on about meeting busty beauty's and ugly monsters you would kill will "one master sword slash!" you called it?"

"H-hey! I didn't know any better! I was a kid!"

"I know! Gullible much?"

Grey gave feel a glare at the clever retort of a joke and gave bell a playful punch on the arm. Soon both of them made it back and opened the old door

"We're back!"

"Haah! Bell!~" Hestia croon as she lunges at her white haired Prince Charming

"My Bell is back! Oh hi Grey welcome back home!"

"It's good to be back goddess"

Hestia started sniffing the air for some reason and her nose let her to Bell's shirt then she aimed a glare at him.

"Bell why does your shirt smell like a woman?"

"O-oh I uhh..."

"Are you seeing someone else?! Are you cheating on me?! Was it that wallen-Whats a-whozit again?!"

"G-goddess it isn't what you think!"

"BELLLLL!" Hestia bellows as she literally launches herself onto Bell, her face contorting into a fixated scowl wth her pigtails straightening out to mimic propellors and her arms outstretched to balance herself, she wraps her legs around his torso and starts squeezing and pulling on his cheeks.

"I don't wanna hear you're excuses! I thought I told you no cheating on me you dummy! It was bad enough you were messing around with all those other girls! But now you're back with heerrrrrr!" Hestia cries out with tears brimming in her eyes with a combination of rage and a sense of abandonment

"Please goddess you don't understand!"

"Why Bell?! Am I not good enough for you?! Is that it?! I thought you told me I was the only girl for you! Didn't you say that?! HUH?! HUH?!" Hestia demands almost desperately, enveloping bells face inbetween her breasts

"G-goddess!" Bell screams, still audible of not muffled

"H-Hahhhh! I didn't say you could touch me there!" She hops off of bell and just gives him a puffy cheeked "Bell you big dummy!"

Kae walked up to Grey and gave him a happy croon and nuzzled him

"Hey buddy! Hope you weren't to mad that I sorta left you here" he gave Grey a disapproving snort and amacked the back of his head with his tail

"Ok ok I deserved that!"

"Hey you two what took ya?! we've been waiting forever!" Welf proclaims

"Hey guys!" Grey greets" I trust Kae hasn't caused you too much trouble?"

"Nah, he actually was as quiet as a charlotheppe, and very layback, he seems to like it here, so how'd it go with that stone?"

"Stone? What stone?" Hestia asks then grey pulls out the armament claw to show Hestia, who gasps and snatches it from Grey

"T-this is an armament claw! How did you all find this?!"

"Well we didn't find it, it was dropped by a mid sized ogre that we fought, grey was the one who killed it though!" Bell comments

"But you were only on the third floor! How?!"

"We're not even sure ourselves goddess Hestia!" Grey admits"but did you by any chance hear about my level up?"

"Yes! Lili and Welf told me! And in still having a hard time believing that! And the fact that you had a latent skill you barely utilized until now! But it might explain this rare drop! But that could just be coincidence.." She hands it back to Grey" Still, Grey, I am very proud of you for reaching this milestone in you're career! And you and I need to record you're status update as soon as possible!"

"Yes goddess! But may bell and I have permission to go to bed? We have to be up by dawn to head to the dungeon!" Grey announces

"What?! Dawn?! Who said that?!" Lili exclaims

"Miss Aiz! She invited us along to the mid floors, so I can only assume that she invited our whole party!"

"Why do we always get left in the dark about important stuff?!" Lili complains melodramatically

Hestia lets out a sharp exhale and responds

"Normally I would be against my Bell risking his neck for that ungrateful, oblivious woman, and I deplore being left in the dark about pertinent details regarding my familia,but on the same token seeing my Bell happy is all I need to make a decision, however, Grey...since you are now strong enough, I expect you to look after my Bell and your party as much yourself, this trek will not be easy! The middle floors are no cakewalk" Hestia places her hand on Grey's head

"But as he goddess Hestia, I grant you this blessing I believe in and have faith in all of you, for you and your party essentially, that all of you may return safely, return to me my precious children and don't allow yourself to become injured..

"Yes goddess!" All four of them bow

"Tomorrow, all of you just please be careful!" Hestia almost begs out of worry for her children, to which they all held there hands to they're chests and gave another "yes my goddess" which Hestia gave a concerned yet bemused smile, as if she wee a wise mother, proud of her children's maturity and conviction

Then they all decided it was finally time for rest, but before they did grey decided to ask Welf for some clarification on what bell told him about him being a blacksmith.

"Yeah kid I am! Used to be part of another familia, but we never really saw eye to eye. Eventually they kicked me out because I supposedly became a 'fallen smith' meaning, the items I created somehow became cursed, thus the name crozo became synonymous with and I was nicknamed and labeled as the 'cursed blacksmith'" Welf reveals

"Oh...so you can't help me..." Grey conceded with visible honey of disappointment

"Don't get me wrong though Grey, Bell uses equipment that I have crafted as well, and seemed to have no I'll or adverse effects whatsoever in fact if anything it seemed to help him down in the dungeons and since I've made a pact with another familia, perhaps my smithing abilities have taken a turn for the better, after all, I helped bell craft a weapon out of an item drop as well..so who's to say it won't work with you?"

"S-so you'll help me?"

"Consider it a welcome to the famila gift! but don't get too excited, I don't work for for free for just anyone, better be ready to pony up kid!" Welf muses, his words the endearing sarcastic quality

"You're the greatest Welf!"

"Hahahaha! Well what can I say? Now quit you're yappin and get some rest superstar, you both need you're rest to blow us away tomorrow! You're one of us now kid! Time you accepted it!" Welf said,leaning back on the couch and stretching his arms, and he is asleep in seconds

Grey curled up on Kae's side as the dragon curled his tail around and rested his head on his lap.

"I finally made it boy...and I found bell again, not to mention got to meet the strongest adventurer in the village and even better get invited on a quest...I never though I would get this far!" Grey admits proudly, Kae utters a soft rumble and nuzzled grey's hand, which Grey responded to by stroking his snout affectionately

"Well...I've come this far...and there's I stopping now! Just you wait bell, we'll be equals sooner than you think! I'll get stronger so I can make you and him proud...and nothing will stop me..."


End file.
